Mistakes will happen during your Walt Disney World vacation. You can avoid some basic mistakes by being prepared before you head down. We have a few easy mistakes you can avoid during your Walt Disney World vacation. We hope knowing about these will help you have a magical time.
Choosing the Wrong Resort
Walt Disney World offers a lot of amazing Resorts to choose from for Guests. There are value, moderate, and deluxe resorts throughout the Walt Disney World Property. The first mistake you want to avoid is choosing the wrong Disney Resort for your family.
Take time to learn about the Resorts so you can choose one that fits your needs. We have a lot of posts on How to Disney about each Resort level as well as questions to ask yourself before choosing. Use these as guides as you make your decision.
Just because a Resort is a favorite of your best friend, doesn’t mean that it is what your family will need. Do what is best for you and your family.
Not Making Park Reservations
A new mistake that some Guests are coming across is that they aren’t aware they need to make Park Reservations. Walt Disney World (and Disneyland) is requiring all Guests to make Park Pass Reservations.
This has Guests choosing one of the four Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, or Disney’s Hollywood Studios) for each day of their ticket.
Guests have to have both a valid theme Park ticket as well as a Park Reservation in order to get into the Park. As there is a limited number available for each Park, it is important to get these reserved early on so you aren’t blocked out of the Park of choice.
Forgetting to Download My Disney Experience
My Disney Experience in the official app of Walt Disney World. This app is extremely important to a successful Walt Disney World vacation. A big mistake to avoid is waiting to download it until you arrive at Walt Disney World.
To really get to most out of all that MDE has to offer, Guests really need to download it early and take time to navigate through all it has to offer.
It is through this app that Guests are able to see wait times, mobile order, find bathrooms, and characters, and know when the parade and cavalcades are happening.
Don’t wait to start looking at this app until you arrive at Walt Disney World. That would be a big mistake and a major frustration when it comes to your Walt Disney World vacation experience.
Not Learning About Genie+
Genie+ is a new feature found within the My Disney Experience app. Guests can choose to add Genie+ for $15/day/person. With this option, Guests are given access to the Lightning Lanes. This is a way to skip the standby lines and save time in line.
Even if you don’t think you will use this feature, it is important to be aware of what it is and what it offers. We have a lot of articles on How to Disney that explain Genie+ and what Guests can do with it.
Take time to dig into this feature so you can make an informed decision on if it will work for your family or not.
Individual Lightning Lanes
Another feature that Guests need to be aware of is Individual Lightning Lanes. At each of the four Disney Parks, there are specific rides that aren’t included with the purchase of Genie+. In order to use skip the standby lines for these rides, Guests have to purchase them individually or al-carte.
The price for this range from $17 to $7 depending on the ride and time of year. These are the in high-demand rides. It can be a great time saver to purchase these highly popular rides.
Currently, the four rides included in this are:
- Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom
- Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Look into these rides to see if it would be productive for your family to invest in Individual Lightning Lanes.
Not Preparing for Weather
Even though it would be fantastic if Walt Disney World was in a bubble and always 75 and sunny, that isn’t reality. Don’t make the mistake of heading down to Walt Disney World and not being prepared for weather.
Take a look at our post HERE about what to do when it rains in Walt Disney World. Knowing what to bring as well as what attractions remain open during rain is a great step to having a magical trip during the rain.
You will also want to have a plan for handling the heat and humidity. This can be a lot if you aren’t used to it. Make sure you have water, fans, and cooling towels. Having these with you will help keep you cool and able to continue touring the Parks.
Not Having Good Shoes
A big mistake that can really ruin a Walt Disney World vacation is not having the right footwear. As you can imagine, you walk a lot in Walt Disney World. Not having the riding footwear can really make a huge difference in your experience.
Take time to break in the shoes that you plan to wear in the Parks. This will help you make sure that you can where then throughout your vacation comfortably.
We also recommend having a few pairs of shoes. Even if you have broken in your shoes, most Guests don’t walk 8-10 miles per day. With that many miles, even the best shoes can cause problems. Having some options is a good idea.
Forgetting a Portable Charger
Finally, a big mistake is not bringing a portable charger with to the Parks. Because My Disney Experience is so important to your experience in Walt Disney World it is key to have a charger to keep your phone working throughout the day.
Make sure you have a portable charger for everyone that is bringing a phone into the Disney Parks. Doing this can really help save meltdowns and frustrations.
Mistakes happen in Walt Disney World; however, with some planning, you can avoid these easy mistakes. Take time to learn about Walt Disney World so you are prepared and ready for a magical time.
